Know Thyself

I discovered something about myself.  After I finished my last quilt and decided that thread painted portraiture was not my strong suit, I was in limbo as to what my next project would be.  I sat down, pulled up Illustrator and tried some ideas using some paper pieced stars I had made awhile back.  The idea was to turn them into a small quilt, but no go.  It just didn't work for me until I messed around with a graphic version of those stars and arrived at an appealing design that doesn't look anything like stars.

I thought I wanted elegant quilts, Victorian looking, with lots of stunning quilting like Margaret Solomon Gunn.  I thought I would like to draw pictures with the quilting needle like Bethanne Nemish.  I do love their quilts, but their way of quilting doesn't manage to magically appear on my screen from my own brain.  However, as I fiddled around with my stars,  playing with ideas, moving and manipulating shapes and colors,  I made a remarkable discovery.  I LOVE intricate designs!  I think I have always loved them.

When I go to my Idea file I find all kinds of geometric designs.

Mosaics are all over the Mediterranean.
Don't remember which country this is from.

Mathematical designs.

Fountain at Hassan II mosque in Casablanca

Pretty designs.

Sconce.  University of TX in Austin.

Doorway/gate in Paris

Colorful designs

Hassan II mosque in Casablanca

All of these designs are non-representational.  Just interesting stuff.  Fascinating eye candy.  When I got to amusing myself with those silly stars I had so much fun creating, coloring, and crafting my next quilt.  Intense.  Who is going to cook dinner?  Oh, I forgot to get meat out of the freezer.  Oops!

Once I recognized that I love designs, I realized that I am also drawn to them everywhere I go.  I take photos of them, I scratch them onto my grocery list.  I love to create kaleidoscopes and spiral quilts.  Designs are in my DNA I guess, and actually DNA is a pretty cool design itself.

DNA

TIP:  It helps to know yourself.  Be honest about what you like, but step out and try new things.  That will help you grow, and you will learn new techniques to apply to your work.  Trying something new is refreshing and keeps your quilts from becoming tedious, but be true to yourself.  You will make happy quilts this way.

My four paper-pieced stars remain pending, currently unloved, waiting for inspiration.  I am working on my new quilt, which is a complicated, interesting design.  It is exciting watching it evolve as I think about how to quilt it.

Sew some happy seams this week.  I wish you insight into your inner design wall.

Best Laid Plans

The sewing table is ready, but I still haven't gotten back to sewing.  We have cheatgrass in the yard, which is pretty, but terribly invasive.  It dies off and turns brown by early July and does not provide adequate nutrition for the deer and elk, so it goes ugly fast.  DH weed-whacked most of the wild grass (no formal lawn here), but I am pulling the cheatgrass by hand from about 1/4 of the yard.  Then, we wait and see what happens next year.  Why am I telling you this?  My poor body is getting badly abused from grass pulling and dandelion digging.  Machine quilting forces the body to be in one fairly intense position without much moving around even if you have a good chair, table the right height, etc.  Stiff necks are very common, but right now it is my whole body that is stiff in spite of my daily exercise routine, stretching and walking the dog.

So what do I do when I am not sewing?  Cleaning house goes only so far.  I don't bake because we have cut out sugar and carbs as much as possible.  So I design.  I lay in bed in the morning free motion thinking as I awaken, and slowly the ideas are coming together for another quilt.  I killed time some months ago between projects making four paper pieced stars, each different.  Then I moved on and let them sit.  They have given me a start for new ideas.  As for the stars I don't use, I am thinking I might cut them into 2" strips and use them for part or all of a border.  I don't know if that will work or not, but it will be fun to try.  I should be able to make this quilt from my stash.  Won't that make DH happy?

I started with a design from Carol Doak's "50 Fabulous Paper-pieced Star" page 122, which I drew in Illustrator.  You can do this on paper, but I like working it out on the computer.  I changed the slant of one line just because.  I drew a hexagon for the center.

Two spokes of a star.  One hexagon.

Then I created a star by putting the two star pieces together and rotating the whole by 90 degrees three times to get all eight points.

Next I rotate the whole star three times until I have four stars.  Then I begin to take design pieces to add to the outside.  From here I just play.  For the center, a hexagon (6 sides) in an octagonal (8 sides) star?  Yes!  It doesn't "fit," but can be worked in a way that adds a slight bit of visual tension, which also adds interest.

TIP:  Don't be afraid to break the rules.  Many rules are mere guides.

I got this to a point where I sort of liked it, but wasn't truly happy.  I played with colors.  I put the hexagon in the center, which was a glowing success after I colored various, surrounding pieces so it looks like it flows out into the greater design (not shown here).  Once I was happy with a version of the whole I began to change colors here and there until I finally ended up with something that spoke to me. As I changed colors in different places I found designs within designs and nested boxes.

Another way to play with designs is to create a line drawing and fill it with color.  That's what all those colored pencils are for - right?

So far I have been playing, looking for design and color and sometimes my computer precision goes wonky.  Before I begin a quilt I will go back to the beginning and make sure that every line and connection is precise so I don't end up trying to sew things that got distorted and no longer fit together.  You are welcome to copy and enlarge the above and color it in if you want to.  I would love to see what you come up with.

TIP:  Simplicity.  Remember the whole design is nothing but one pieced triangle in a right and a left version.  Like the cells of your body make you a complex whole, so is a quilt design.

Sew some happy seams this week or have fun drawing out your creative ideas.

P.S.  My final design, because of color changes, shows no evidence of having begun as stars!!

Egyptian Tent Makers

The Egyptian Tent Makers are from a family that has decorated tents in the middle east for generations.  Around the Mediterranean Sea almost every surface is intensely decorated with intricate designs and many colors.  The tent makers carried this tradition to fabric and they made tents that were exquisite works of art.  Today they use the same techniques to make decorative wall hangings and they are amazing.  See their website for more information about them.

The base fabric they use is heavy and thick, like for tents.  I am sure the book they are selling gives more specific information, but I passed up the opportunity to buy it so I really cannot talk about materials and techniques in detail.  Men are the artists and do all the sewing, and two of them were at the Albuquerque show working on hangings.  There were many completed examples for show and sale.

Each man had a grocery bag full of pieces of fabric.  He cut a shape or a strip with huge, tailors' scissors as he was ready to sew.  No patterns.  The only references I noted were some minimal markings on the background fabric, which somehow told him what to put where.  Using a large needle the cut pieces were appliquéd with functional stitches that were rather large compared to what we are used to seeing in our traditional quilting appliqué.  The designs are amazingly intricate, beautiful, and each one is different.  All are done by hand.

I hope you can see the stitching on this closeup

Some more examples to drool over:

It was a wonderful quilt show with lots of interesting and beautiful things to see.

What's Next?

Contemplate. I am always thinking about what project to do next.  I sew for a couple of hours almost every day, but get worn out sometimes doing tedious tasks.  Don't get me wrong I LOVE to sew, but my body and my brain become fatigued and mistakes ensue.  That is when I go back to my computer and work on painting, genealogy, and often on new designs.  I hate to be without something percolating in my future.  My previous post related a problem in one of my designs.  I got lots of comments and ideas on that post and everyone who participated can be sure that their suggestions have been added to the box in my brain.  Thank you for taking the time to share.

At the moment I am quilting an intricate quilt with lots of different quilting designs and a lot of stitching-in-the-ditch.  I often find my dulled mind pondering new ideas or solving problems or thinking about what to get the grandchildren for Christmas.  Yes, it sometimes is mind numbing, but the results are so thrilling when they turn out right...not so much when they have to be ripped out.

There are times when you need a good seam ripper and here is my very special one.  My daughter and her husband gave this to me.  They made it from wood and purchased innards, shaping it on a lathe, and applying a beautiful finish.  I love it.  It fits my hand like a pencil and the business end is longer and sharper than any I have ever purchased.  No clunky, monster handle.  No tiny implement to cramp my fingers.  No covering top to get lost or broken  The upper photo shows my ripper closed.  Pull the silver top off, turn it around, push it into the handle, and there is the ripper.

My special seam ripper.

TIP:  Do you get numbed by the repetitive tasks of quilt making?  That is part of the process and can help relax your mind if you let it do so.  I love to count and stack the pieces I've sewed or admire the parts I have quilted.  It is a self-esteem booster to watch a product grow to completion.  Get up and move around for a minute and get a glass of water.  Embrace the occasional tedium and recognize how much you are accomplishing.

Ruminate.  One of the emerging designs that crawls around the edges of my mind is a flower.  Specifically, a wild Gaillardia, also called Indian Blanket.  I was desperate to take a photo so, in lieu of anything else suitable, I honed in on this poor blossom that was coming to the end of its beauty.  The photo turned out to be particularly appealing to me.  I want to make a quilt from it and will try painting with pencils, ink or thread to bring it alive.   It won't be large and I still have to audition production possibilities.  I  haven't even looked at fabric yet.

Dancing Gaillardia

Cogitate.  Last weekend I bought Lea McComas' just-released book on thread painting faces so I sat down and did the preliminary tasks for creating a design for a quilt of my dog.  We'll see if that one works out.  I never start a new concept with something simple.  Oh well...I am what I am.

Reflect.  I have another spiral with a Native American theme that I am eager to do, but it is pretty big and since my present quilt is large and ungainly, I am in the mood to do some smaller projects.

Deliberate.  Then there is that whole cloth quilt to be done from a design on an antique plate.

I don't think I will worry anymore about what to work on next.  It will depend on my mood.  Maybe I will start more than one!

Learning to Quilt

By definition a quilt must have a top, a filler (batting, flannel or, as in pioneer days, an old blanket), and a backing.  The sandwich must be fastened together.  A simple option is to tie it together with thread or yarn in multiple places.  Alternatively, the layers can be hand stitched with a varying amount of complexity.  A nicely done hand quilted quilt is a beauty to behold with a quality that cannot be duplicated by a sewing machine.  Today, with the world in such a big hurry, we want to speed up the process, so machine quilting has been reluctantly accepted and is also stunning when well done.

As with anything else, there is a learning curve.  Even a baby has to learn to feed itself and the first attempts can be pretty messy.  It takes time and practice to learn to coordinate the foot pedal, hand movement, machine speed, and even the movement of your eyes.  You can and should research the process via classes and/or reading, but YOU have to experience it yourself and practice.  You must learn about thread and needles in order to rein them in to work for you without causing alarming noises from your machine or broken needles and thread. You must learn what your machine likes and dislikes, and how to adjust the tension properly.  Lots to think about.

TIP:  Practice, practice, practice.  Start with paper and pencil to develop muscle memory of a design.  Make up fabric sandwich squares and spend some time each day to develop coordination.  Mark designs and learn to follow the lines.  Learn to stitch in the ditch.  Learn to do curves then straight lines.  Learn to draw freehand with the needle.  Inundate your brain with quilting ideas and improve your performance one step at a time.

Finally, the appliqué on Hallelujah Rhapsody was done.  It took a very long time.  I quilted it with numerous filler patterns, and that took a long time too, but I believe that on this quilt I became more competent than ever before, and I turned the corner into becoming interested in doing the quilting.  I always loved the sewing, but dreaded the quilting, because it never looked good enough.  They say that the quilting should be planned in the design process as it is an integral part of the quilt.  I knew that, but didn't yet know how to even think of quilting designs that wouldn't be executed for months yet.

TIP:  Before you begin quilting you should quilt around the outside of the appliqué.  I don't remember if I knew that when I made this quilt, but it is great FMQ practice and really improves the look of the quilt.  You can do it with invisible thread if you are worried about possible imperfections.

I quilted the Hallelujah Rhapsody on the fly with different filler designs.  There was no room for anything bigger.  I had chickened out on feathers and added them as appliqué.  Was that insane or what?  I have posted this picture before, but this time note the different fillers.

I learned how to do pebbles.  They are not easy, but invite a rhythm and commit you to strive to follow previous stitching lines perfectly.  They are a great exercise for developing control of the myriad parts that must interact in the process of quilting on a machine.  Among some of the pebbles I inserted flowers.  That was fun, and they make the quilting more interesting.  You will learn to either draw freehand with the needle or follow the marked lines, depending on your personal inclination.  I stippled some.  Did you know that stippling is one of the most difficult filler designs?  You have to constantly move in many directions and this is hard for a novice.  After finishing Hallelujah Rhapsody I found myself thinking about quilting ideas as I designed my quilts rather than as an afterthought.  Definitely a step in the right direction.

TIP:  In your early attempts at quilting try a more defined pattern and leave the stippling until later.  Don't distress too much over your imperfections.  If I had done so on this quilt it would still be in the UFO (Unfinished Objects) pile.

This quilt was my first to be juried into not one, but two shows.  I learned how to enter a show!  I was most gratified to have my quilt accepted even though it didn't win anything.  The judges offered several suggestions regarding my quilting:  attention to tension, strive for even stitches, watch starts and stops.  These comments were not unexpected as I was still very much a novice quilter so I worked on the areas in which I was judged deficient.

TIP:  Don't be discouraged by feedback such as this.  Just work on getting better.  The judges aren't mean, but they are very experienced, and I have found that even their negative findings are couched in positive terms on the evaluation.  Remember that you have achieved some level of competence to be juried into a show.  Very exciting!

Appliqué to Background

Appliqué can be applied several ways.  It can be sewed on by hand (needle turned), and within that category there are tricks using freezer paper, starch or glue.  The fabric can be fused or glued to the background and the edges sewn down with the machine.  Satin stitch done with a tight zigzag is common and looks lovely when done well.  There are many special stitches on machines today that can be used. 

TIP:  Experiment with the fancy stitches on your machine.  They work best with stabilizer under the fabric.

My favorite method is to use a fusible material, iron the appliqué to the background, and sew it down with a machine blanket stitch.  I trace all my appliqué pieces onto Soft Fuse IN REVERSE.  It stays soft.  It has paper on only one side, and that paper stays on until you want to take it off.  It is easy to pull off when you are ready.

First the designs are drawn IN REVERSE on the paper side of the fusible material.   If you are using fusible with two paper sides, read the directions for which side to use.

TIP:  I often squeeze all the designs that will be made from the same fabric together about ¼-½ inch apart so there is little waste, and iron the whole bunch to one piece of fabric without cutting the fusible apart first.  You don’t have to worry about grain on the appliqué.

TIP:  Did you get that?  The designs must be drawn on the paper of the fusible IN REVERSE of how you want them on the quilt.  A new habit to develop! 

Now I sit down with an audio book in the player and carefully cut out all the pieces.  Watching TV is OK too.  I like to get all of the cutting done first to get it out of the way.  What I really want to do is sew and I don’t care to stop in between to cut.

TIP:  I find it helpful to put all the cut appliqué for one background shape into an envelope, label it and put it, the original tracing paper drawings, and the background piece into a folder...one folder for each background shape and its appliqués.  Everything is labeled of course.  It is nice to be able to find it all together when I am ready to work on that part.

Finally, I tear the paper off, lay the appliqué in its predetermined spot and iron it to the background according to the directions of the fusible material.

TIP:  Is it hard to get the paper off before ironing to the fabric?  Use a pin to lightly score the paper in the center of the appliqué piece.  The paper will pop up and is easily grabbed.

TIP:  Use a heat resistant ironing sheet over the appliqué.  It will protect your iron from any AWOL fusible goo.

MAJOR BIG TIP:  reverse (design) + wrong (side fabric) = RIGHT.  Two negatives make a positive! In this case two wrongs make right.  

Why am I do adamant about reversing the design on fusible?  I made a whole quilt backwards one time.  That's why!